CalmClinic: Anxiety May Be Causing That Rib Pain
Rib pain can be a frightening and while there are ample causes of rib pain that may be serious, this can actually be a symptom of anxiety for some people. While only a doctor can diagnose your rib pain, anyone living with anxiety should mention their anxiety to their doctor. You may find that the rib pain that has caused you so much concern is nothing more than a strange anxiety symptom that you just can't shake.
Some People Are More Prone to Rib Pain
Rib pain is associated with some types of anxiety more than others. While anyone can have some type of pain in their rib related to their anxiety, those with anxiety attacks and other symptoms of breathing issues related to anxiety may be more prone to that type of pain.
What Causes Rib Discomfort From Anxiety?
Stress has a shocking effect on your body - an effect that is almost impossible to quantify, and one that can affect you in ways that even doctors don't understand. But generally there are two causes of rib pain from anxiety. They are: Muscle tension in your chest and stomach has a tendency to lead to rib pain. Breathing issues that occur during anxiety can also cause chest pain, and the chest pain often feels like it's coming from closer to your ribs.
How to Stop Your Anxiety Rib Pain
Distract Yourself: Because focusing on your rib pain makes you rib pain worse, a suitable distraction is important for reducing the impact that the pain has on you. Pain can also cause more anxiety, which can then cause more pain, so a distraction helps to break that cycle so that while the pain may not dissipate automatically, it will be less likely to be fueled by your fear.
Get a Massage: Massages are generally a stress relief tool. But their benefits for your rib pain go beyond that. Your body is only able to focus on one or two sensations at a time. During a massage, your mind is focused on the impact of the fingers. You may feel some rib pain, but it will be minimized by focusing on the other, better feelings that you experience during a massage.
Give Your Pain an Excuse: Exercise is an incredible anxiety relief tool, but it also does something very interesting to those living with physical anxiety symptoms. Exercise gives your brain an "excuse" for your feelings. When you exercise thoroughly and then experience pain in the rib or chest, your mind is able to explain it away by your exercise, so that you won't ultimately experience anxiety as a result.
Read the full article here!
Reflection: Have you ever experienced rib pain because of anxiety? If so, tell me about your experience!
#RibPain #Anxiety #Tension #ChestPain #AnxietySymtom
@professionalVision2624
That's definitely an interesting connection, I've never really heard this before! I do often get some rib pains but usually when I'm doing exertional exercise like cardio. Thanks for sharing!
@sunnyWriting4806
I’m happy you liked the article! For me personally, I have gotten rib pain due to anxiety and felt it was a good article to share and raise awareness of this anxiety induced pain.
@professionalVision2624 I have had chest pain which I think was related to anxiety. Thanks for sharing this informative article!
@comfortableNight4463
Thank you for your comment! I’ve also had chest pain and after a while it started to affect my ribs so I did a lot of research and noticed that during periods of little stress both my ribs and chest didn’t hurt but as soon as my stress levels increased the pain returned both in my chest and in my ribs. I’m so happy you found this article informative!
@professionalVision2624 i have experienced pain in my ribs but i have no clue if it was from anxiety but maybe next time i'll know
@zealousGrace5023
I’m happy you could relate to this article! I’m sorry to hear about your rib pain, it can really be a nuisance. You can try and keep track if your pain increases with higher stress levels if you do get rib pain again to see if that’s the cause of your rib pains. Thank you for your comment!
@professionalVision2624 Yes i'll definitely keep track of it now thank you!
@professionalVision2624
It can also simply be hypermobility, with the ribs slightly moving out of their axis (subluxation) they pinch nerves leading to acute rib pain.
Hypermobility is fairly common (10% or more of the population) and there are medical solutions which are not very invasive.
It can be worth discussing it with your doctor, especially if you have more reason to suspect hypermobility.
@WhenTheTimeComes
Wow! Yes you're right! I never thought about that rib pain can occur due to Hypermobility! Thank you for pointing it out!
@professionalVision2624
I suffer from hypermobility everyday (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) so it was an easy thought for me, but if EDS is fairly rare, it isn't the case for hypermobility in general.
I would like to explain as well why anxiety is causing rib pain. When you are anxious, your muscles are tense. As you know some ribs are partly floating. If you're unable to relax, you might cause yourself muscle strain or your muscles might cause for your rib to move and pinch an intracoastal nerve.
Anxiety is a mind-body experience. If you work on your breathing you force your muscles to relax. When your muscles relax, your chest is less compressed and you feel better since your breathing is no longer causing you this painful effort.
@WhenTheTimeComes
I'm sorry you are suffering from that condition :( That must be really hard. But what an mazing perspective! I agree that the mind and the body is connected and that anxiety can cause our muscles to be tense which results in rib pain. Thank you so much for sharing!
@professionalVision2624 The psychological is very much connected to the physiological. It's incredible how mental pain can manifest itself somewhere in the body. We tend to roll our eyes at chiropractors for their inexplicable techniques of healing but I think a lot of it is actually a physical approach to mental healing beyond placebo. Intriguing post.
@bontaki
A great insight! Thank you for sharing! Yes I agree, that mind and body are connected and how mental pain can manifest itself into our body. And if either our mind or body are hurting, the other one ends up showing signs of pain. Like after a break-up we feel immense emotional pain and it usually manifests as psychical symptoms.
